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Two Indian soldiers
were killed on the Line of Control (LoC) today as Pakistani troops attacked a
forward post in remote Gurez sector of north Kashmir.

An Army spokesman
said the soldiers, Tariq Ahmad Lone and Wasim Ahmad Lone, both residents of
Bandipora district in J&K, were manning the forward post, the first line of
defence along the LoC which are often positioned opposite to Pakistani posts.

The Army has
described the incident as a “major ceasefire violation” ahead of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on November 7.

Sources said the
possibility of the Pakistani army facilitating infiltration of militantsby providing covering fire could not be ruled
out. After the firing, the Army launched a search operation in the area.

The slain soldiers
belonged to Territorial Army and were on deputation with Rashtriya Rifles, the
sources said.The spokesman said a
“befitting retaliation” was carried out.

Modi will visit
Srinagar where he will address a rally at a cricket stadium. The security grid
has been put on alert in the region and patrolling has been intensified.

“We are at the border throughout
the year and we die in combat. We should also be granted ex-servicemen status,
which will ensure that we get facilities from the states,” said PS Nair,
national general secretary, AICPMF Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association.

These personnel are also
demanding that paramilitary forces be given the “retirement pension”, which was
50 per cent of the last pay drawn. Currently the paramilitary forces are
receiving the New Pension Scheme, which is applicable to those appointed on or
after January 1, 2004. Under the scheme, officials have to contribute 10 per
cent of their salary and the government will also make an equal contribution.

The paramilitary forces are only
given CGHS facilities. “These facilities are inaccessible to the personnel who
are staying at a state’s remote districts as they are only located at the
capital,” explained P Sourabhan, association secretary.

GS Virk, retired ITBP Deputy
Inspector General, said the paramilitary forces should also be given CSD
facilities as the goods sold at the Central Police Canteen were not cheap like
the ones sold in the CSD.

The government is
focusing on women’s empowerment and envisions a greater role for them in the
armed forces, but a large number of NCC girls aspiring to become Army officers
are unable to fulfill their dream because of an extremely limited number of
vacancies available to them.

There are only four
vacancies reserved for girls in each course under the NCC Special Entry Scheme
for C-Certificate holders at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, that
imparts training to candidates selected for short service commission. On the
other hand, there are 50 seats reserved for boys in this category.

“For the 39th Course commencing
shortly, there are 271 girls from this region alone that have applied against
the four vacancies,” Maj Gen GS Chima, Additional Director General NCC, who
heads the Punjab, Haryana, HP and Chandigarh Directorate, said. “If we consider
NCC’s 16 other directorates across the country, the number of girls applying
would be several thousand,” he added. Major General Chima said while a large
number of eligible girls lose out the chance to become officers, 10-15
vacancies for boys in each course remain unfilled as many aspirants fail to
meet the stipulated criteria. Fro the aforementioned course, 686 boys from this
region had applied.

Two courses commence at the OTA
every year, with the annual vacancies being eight for girls and 100 for boys.
Applicants under the NCC scheme need not undergo any written entrance exam, but
are directly called for interview by the SSB.

Ahead of Sino-India
talks on counter- terrorism, China today expressed “willingness” to work with
both India and Pakistan in the fight against terror, raising hopes that it may
take up with its all-weather ally New Delhi’s concerns about cross-border
terrorism.

Responding to
reports that the Indian government this time would push for greater cooperation
from China on counter-terrorism, including pressuring Pakistan to act on
terrorist groups based in that country, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Hua Chunying said counter-terrorism cooperation played an important role in
India-China relations.

“You mentioned Pakistan.
Counter-terrorism cooperation is also part and parcel of China-Pakistan
strategic cooperative partnership. The two sides are in sound cooperation in
this regard,” she said referring to Pakistan military crackdown on East
Turkistan Islamic Movement militants who carried out violent attacks in China’s
Xinjiang province bordering Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

Under pressure from China,
Pakistan army launched air and ground operation called Zarb-e-Azb in Waziristan
and other tribal areas where Xinjiang’s separatist Uyghur militants affiliated
to Al-Qaida operated.

During his last month’s visit to
Beijing, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that there were a “small
number” of them (militants) in tribal areas. — PTI

The defense
ministers of Russia and India, Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu and Manohar Parrikar,
respectively, have signed a document aimed at developing military-technical
cooperation, a spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on
Nov. 2.

"Following a
meeting of the commission, a protocol was signed aimed at developing Russia and
India's bilateral relations in the military-technical sphere," the
spokesperson said.

At a Nov. 2 meeting
of the intergovernmental Russian-Indian commission for military-technical
cooperation, the two defense ministers discussed the possibility of broadening
arms and military-hardware projects, increasing the number and scale of
bilateral military drills and cooperation in the field of military education.

In addition, the
minister noted the great potential for the two countries' cooperation in
missile and naval technologies and aircraft-building, the spokesperson said.

"The heads of
the defense ministries noted the great potential for cooperation on missile and
naval technologies, aircraft-building, ship-building and upgrading the
equipment of ground forces," the defense ministry spokesperson told
reporters.

US-based taxi
hailing platform Uber today said it has inked a pact with Army Welfare
Placement Organisation (AWPO) under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to create
opportunities for ex-servicemen on its platform.

AWPO assists in the
placement of Indian Army ex-servicemen in private sector jobs and provide
entrepreneurship opportunities.

As part of the
partnership, AWPO will refer potential ex-servicemen who wish to become
driver-partners on the Uber platform.

This will create
driver partner opportunities for over one lakh ex-servicemen and women on the
Uber platform through AWPO referrals.

"At AWPO, we
believe everyone who has served our country deserves the dignity to be able to
support themselves when they return to the civilian workforce. That's why we're
proud to be working with Uber to extend flexible, well paid work to thousands
of our ex-service members," AWPO MD Major General Deepak Sapra said.

Uber unveiled its
UberMILITARY campaign in the US in September last year and was open to service
members, veterans and military spouses. It had said it would on-board 50,000
members over the next 18 months.

"At Uber, we
understand that members of our armed forces are some of the nation's most
talented, committed and skilled people. It is our honour to extend our hand and
provide access to opportunities for entrepreneurship and empowerment,"
Uber India President Amit Jain said.

In India, Uber's
rival Ola had launched a programme -- Ola Sainik -- in August this year and
said it plans to enroll 10,000 ex-servicemen by 2020.

One of the world's
largest e-tailers, Amazon also runs a similar talent development programme for
ex-service personnel in India.